The present invention relates to electronic reading devices.
The reading of books has been a universally popular pastime from time immemorial. Beginning in the latter half of the twentieth century, the use of audiobooks also began to gain in popularity; people could listen to books in their cars while driving, listen to books while exercising, etc. Initially, audiobooks were available on cassette tapes which people could listen to using cassette tape players. Beginning in the 1990's, however, audiobooks became available in a variety of digital format compatible with portable music players (e.g., in MP3, AAC, WMA, AIFF, WAV, etc. file formats), which further spurred popularity of audiobooks. Proceeding into the twenty-first century, corresponding with the rapid expansion in the use of tablet computers and other types of electronic reading devices, electronic books (eBooks) also have gained widespread popularity. Due to the popularity of audiobooks and eBooks, millions of books currently are available in both audiobook and eBook formats.